Funds processing automation reaches new heights 27 October 2021Belgium Reporter: Maddie Saghir
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The total automation rate of orders of cross-border funds increased to 93.2 per cent in Q4 2020 from 91.8 per cent in Q4 2019, according to a new report by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) and SWIFT.
EFAMA and SWIFT put this down to an increase in the use of Proprietary File Transfer Protocols by transfer agents in Ireland.
The new report on the automation and standardisation rates of fund orders received by transfer agents in the cross-border fund centres of Luxembourg and Ireland in 2020, highlights the progress made in the increased automation of fund orders and the use of ISO standards.
Key findings show the total automation rate of orders processed by Luxembourg transfer agents reached 91.2 per cent in Q4 2020, compared to 90.2 per cent in Q4 2019.
According to the report, the ISO automation rate increased from 76.6 per cent in Q4 2019 to 78.4 per cent in Q4 2020, while the use of manual orders dropped from 9.8 per cent to 8.8 per cent during the same period.
Meanwhile, the total automation rate of orders processed by Irish transfer agents increased to 95.9 per cent in Q4 2020, from 94.6 per cent in Q4 2019. The ISO automation rate decreased from 36.6 per cent to 33.6 per cent, whereas the use of manual processes dropped from 5.4 per cent to 4.1 per cent during the same period, the report finds.
Tanguy van de Werve, director general of EFAMA, comments: “I want to commend Europe’s cross-border fund industry for reaching a very high degree of automation of its processes, which has allowed to reduce operational costs and risks and improve the quality of the services to customers”.
Karin de Ridder, head of standards development team, SWIFT, adds: “Whilst order volumes have increased overall, the fund volumes of ISO 20022 messages on SWIFT show a slight decrease and this is, perhaps, a reflection of the unusual circumstances facing the world in 2020.”
ISO 20022 is a multi-part international standard for a common platform for the development of messages. It will impact all financial institutions active in cross-border payments as well as market infrastructures and third-party vendors. It was a hot topic during the ‘Realising data opportunities in the securities industry’ panel at Sibos.
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